🔗 Share this article

He battled the legal system and justice triumphed.

Sixty days after getting a twenty-seven-year sentence for trying to “annihilate” Brazil’s democracy, one-time leader Jair Bolsonaro now appears headed to prison.

Anticipated Imprisonment

The convicted instigator – who's been living under house arrest in his residence while a number of court processes and petitions play out – is largely predicted to be jailed in the next few days, amidst mounting talk that he will be moved to a notorious maximum security penitentiary.

Historical Statements on Convicts

Throughout Bolsonaro’s 40-year public life, the far-right former soldier showed little compassion for the country's inmates.

“What’s the need to offer these scoundrels a good life?” he previously wondered. “They deserve to be fucked, full-fucking-stop. That's my opinion.”

On another occasion, Bolsonaro proclaimed: “If you don’t want to end up behind bars, the only thing required is not sexual assault, kidnap or theft.”

Jail Facility Speculation

But the idea of Bolsonaro himself ending up in the Papuda maximum security prison in Brasília has shocked backers, a group of four this week toured the facility in an apparent effort to discourage the high court from banishing him there.

The senator, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s Liberal party who was among that group, claimed he predicted the septuagenarian leader to be imprisoned in the coming fortnight and worried his assigned prison could be Papuda.

The senator argued Bolsonaro’s serious gut ailments – the outcome of a life-threatening stabbing during the 2018 presidential presidential campaign – meant it would be hazardous to keep the one-time head of state there. “His health is very grave. He won’t be able to handle it if they send him to Papuda … It will be terrible,” he commented, who also voiced anxiety about packed cells and the condition of jail cuisine.

While visiting Papuda, Lucas remembered seeing cells containing 40 inmates: “It's practically one meter squared per prisoner.

“We conversed to the convicts and they protest, naturally, of the terrible food,” continued the senator.

Allies Voice Concerns

Lucas is not the only voice expressing views before the ex-leader's predicted imprisonment.

Penning in a major daily, another ally, the former cabinet member Fábio Wajngarten, lamented the “harsh” end to Bolsonaro’s “flawless” time in office and asserted Brazil was about to witness “the largest political injustice in its record”.

“It is an injustice that eats away the souls of many of Brazilians,” he stated.

Mixed Public Response

It is possibly true given the considerable backing Bolsonaro retains on the conservative side. However his anticipated jailing has also gladdened the feelings of many others who believe he should be jailed for plotting to prevent the incoming president from assuming office – and additionally plotting to have him murdered.

Congressman Otoni, a politician for the incumbent leader's allied group, said: “Not a soul desires Bolsonaro to be sent in a hole. No one desires Bolsonaro to be sent in segregation. Not a soul wants Bolsonaro to lack food or for him to have to rest on hard ground. We want him to get dignified handling – but dignified handling while incarcerated. He must not continue being his self-appointed guard for his entire life.”

He observed how Bolsonaro backers, who have long celebrating the severe handling of prisoners, had unexpectedly realized to their rights. “Recently has the conservative fringe – which has always claimed that civil liberties are not for criminals – decided to inspect a jail to find out what conditions are truly like,” he said.

“He is a criminal,” he affirmed, but that did not mean he merited “shameful, insulting handling”.

Potential Jail Conditions

Despite talk that Bolsonaro could be transferred to Papuda, which currently houses about thousands of inmates, his more likely destination looks to be a adjacent penitentiary for law enforcement and other “special” inmates called Papudinha (Little Papuda).

The accommodations are much more adequate than those in the primary facility, although still a world away from the luxury Bolsonaro experienced while residing in the spectacular leader's home, around 12 miles away.

As per reports, the cell Bolsonaro could likely reside in in Papudinha is about 24 square meters – about the size of vehicle spaces – and features a 12 square meter WC with a shower and a 130 square foot balcony. “The ex-president might be permitted to have a TV and additionally a cooler in his quarters as long as they were supplied by his family,” the report indicated.

Political Responses

He condemned the rumoured idea to send the one-time head of state to Papuda as “a type of retaliation” on the part of the supreme court judge who oversaw Bolsonaro’s coup trial and will rule on his future in the {